Inclusion Advisory Group
An initiative of CBM Global Disability Inclusion

We are a global network of advisors and researchers, working in partnership with the disability movement on catalytic opportunities that have potential to spark broader, systemic change for inclusion.

The Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG) is an initiative of CBM Global Disability Inclusion. IAG is a global network of advisors, representatives and associates, working together in decentralised, local teams.

We work across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. Our largest and longest operating advisory hub is based in Australia with strong links to the Pacific and Asia.

We bring development and humanitarian policy and programming expertise provided in collaboration with the disability movement, who bring representation of their members, expertise and lived experience.

We offer localised advice and relationships backed by global evidence and learning, networks, and sector understanding.

CBM Global advisors offer a tried and tested approach, with quality assurance mechanisms, bringing credibility, experience and track record to clients.

Through one contract and partnership manager, clients can access multi-skilled teams of CBM advisors, the disability movement, associate advisors, and research partners.

We work with a diverse range of clients enabling us to bring insights and evidence from global to community level work.

Our advice draws on and complements CBM Global’s advocacy and programmatic work, giving us a well-rounded perspective.

This enables us to provide advice at scale, including across multiple countries.

The rights set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are often not enjoyed in reality. We exist to support others to put inclusion into practice.

The rights of the world’s one billion people with disabilities are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which has now been adopted by over 180 countries. However, these rights are often not enjoyed in reality, and people with disabilities routinely face discrimination and barriers to their full inclusion and participation in society.

The Inclusion Advisory Group works for a more inclusive and equitable world where individuals, organisations and institutions actively practice and promote inclusion and protect rights under the CRPD.

We exist to support others to put inclusion into practice. We believe that tailored input, communicated effectively, with the right people at the table, can help make inclusion a reality. 

As part of CBM Global – an international development and  humanitarian organisation – we focus on creating change in low- and middle-income countries. 

In partnership with the disability movement, we help create change in organisations and institutions through technical advice, change facilitation, capacity strengthening and sharing evidence of what works.

We provide advice to governments, UN agencies, development banks, management contractors and international and local NGOs. We work in partnership with the disability movement, according to their local priorities. We often work in blended delivery teams, made up of advisors in multiple locations, disability movement partners, as well as associate advisors/researchers. We work across development and humanitarian action.

We help to create change in organisations and institutions through technical assistance, change facilitation, capacity strengthening and sharing evidence of what works.

Find out more about our services and our approach.

Our unique approach provides clients with high quality, tailored advice via multi-skilled teams, in partnership with the disability movement.

We believe that tailored input, communicated effectively, with the right people at the table can help make inclusion a reality.

We seek advisory opportunities that are catalytic and have the potential to spark broader, systemic change for inclusion, in line with CBM Global’s vision and mission.

Our guiding principles:

• We value the expertise and lived experience of people with disabilities and their representative organisations in all their forms.
• We work to complement the agenda and amplify the many voices of the disability movement, particularly in the global south.
• We commit to aligning our advice with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other human rights and sectoral frameworks as relevant, and seek to support others to implement these.
• We aim to understand our client’s needs, perspectives and contexts, and provide capacity development and advice tailored specifically for them.
• We seek to build capacity in other organisations so that the commitment to inclusion continues beyond our advice.
• We commit to collecting, analysing and drawing on evidence of ‘what works’.
• We draw on a range of expertise and perspectives from within our advisory teams and partners.
• We seek to work within a broader inclusion perspective, recognising that different forms of exclusion based on age, gender, disability and other aspects are fundamentally connected and intersecting. We particularly emphasise the multiple and intersecting nature of gender and disability.

Why we’re different:

• We bring development and humanitarian policy and programming expertise, in collaboration with the disability movement who bring representation, expertise and lived experience.
• We offer localised advice and relationships backed by global evidence and learning, networks and sector understanding
• We offer a tried and tested approach with quality assurance mechanisms.
• Through one contract and partnership manager, clients can access multi-skilled teams of CBM Global advisors, the disability movement, associates and research partners.
• We bring insights and evidence from global to community level work throughout work with a diverse range of clients.
• Our advice offers well-rounded perspectives drawn from and complemented by CBM Global’s advocacy and programmatic work.

We work in teams of advisors from different contexts, drawing on a range of skills and expertise. Teams include in-house and associate advisors.

Our team is made up of people with diverse professional backgrounds and life experiences, from former diplomats to humanitarian workers, from allied health professionals to lawyers. Lived experience of disability is highly valued in our team.

Our clients engage with one lead advisor who gives them access to advisors from across CBM Global’s networks and offices, as well as our disability movement partners, associate advisors and partner organisations.

We work with individual consultants, as well as collaborating with other organisations, including organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), research institutes and other advisory groups. For example, we have close working relationships with: with the Pacific Disability Forum, the Centre for Inclusive Policy, the Nossal Institute for Global Health and TCI Global.

We commit to providing advice in collaboration with the disability movement in line with their local priorities. There are many ways the disability movement can influence or partner with our work, from strategy and programme steering, to auditing and accountability, to specific technical input. We complement the roles chosen by the disability movement in each situation.